"Roads branch out, and often you cannot resist the temptation to desert your own chosen path to explore them." - Mark Twain
11:47 A.M
"So, do you think that we'll ever do anything even just a tad bit more exciting than mammal watching here, Whiskers?" Nick mused lazily.
Judy shook her head before taking another bite of her lettuce wrap. Ever since their mass of arrests their first day, which seemed like so long ago by this point, Chief Urzo himself had assigned them to patrol a ten by ten block area where the last recorded arrest was nearly five years prior, and had been of a porcupine who'd popped several tires with his quills by accident, and was quickly released. Least to say, it was clear that their grizzly superior intended on jading Nick and Judy through sheer boredom, of all things.
"I don't think he's planning on giving us anything more than traffic patrols." The rabbit sighed, wishing that they could be doing virtually anything else than such.
"More sitting, less doing. Still better than paperwork though... Least we have a front row seat, eh? " Nick added with a gesture to the windshield, to which Judy snickered.
But still, at the very least, they did have each other. If anything, that was something that the both of them counted on and cherished greatly.
The two tiny mammals soon fell into an amicable silence as they chewed their food, each peacefully eating the lunch that they had bought at a local outdoor market. Being closer to the outskirts of the city, as well as a place where younger mammals went for the local start-up businesses, many 'organic' stores and stalls had popped up in the Deciduous District. Both the fox and rabbit respectively thought the food was a tad bit on the pricey side, but the taste reminded Judy of home as she bit down into her wrap once again.
Meanwhile, Nick himself was munching on an identical food item, as Judy had managed to convince him to try the vegetable wrap, if only to add more greens to his diet, as she oh-so formally chided him. The fox didn't mind, as he considered himself an omnivorous creature due to the influence of modern life, what with everything being processed and canned, it was almost impossible to go by without snacking on something outside of his original, primal diet, of which consisted primarily of rabbit meat.
At the thought of such delicacies, Nick glanced over to his wife and smirked. "I wish you'd look at me like you're looking at that wrap right now."
Judy stopped chewing long enough to give him a quick glare, though one tainted by the tiniest of smiles. Silence again fell upon them as they observed the various mammals walking about through the streets in front of them, each one just living another day of their respective lives in the forest district. Nick himself watched as several young, hipster looking beavers were walking down the sidewalk, holding onto expensive Snarlbucks coffee cups, each one dressed up in torn jeans and paint stained red plaid button-ups.
The fox sighed as he finished off the very last bite of his own veggie wrap. "You know, Carrots, I think we should have went to that place for our real anniversary dinner."
"A food cart?" Judy asked flatly.
"Why not?" Nick replied with ease, licking his fingers of the tangy sauce that had dripped onto them. "Certainly better service than that restaurant we went to the other night."
Just as Judy was about to reply, the ever-present cruiser radio crackled to life.
"Officers Wilde, Hopps... Respond." The gruff voice of Chief Urzo himself was heard breaking through the device, his tone sounding almost anxious.
The bunny quickly grabbed the radio, all the while with Nick giving her a slightly pouty look at not being able to greet the Chief personally and with the latest batch of teasing nicknames that he had made up just for him. Elbowing the fox to dissuade him from hissing something into the intercom, Judy pushed down on the little button and responded;
"Officer Hopps here, Chief. Over."
After releasing her hold on the tiny plastic button, a relieved and static-sounding sigh sounded over the radio.
"I'm glad that it's you answering and not your irksome fox again." The grizzly bear grumbled in seeming relief.
"Love you too, Brother Bear!" Nick chimed in just as Judy pressed down on the respond button, ensuring that the other end of the line heard his comment.
Judy shook her head and rolled her eyes at the fox's previous statement, though she did find the nickname somewhat humorous herself, admittedly.
"Shut it, Wilde!" Urzo growled. "Now, as much as I'd hate to take you away from your little patrol, we've run into a slight situation that several of my officers need advice on."
Both sets of ears perked up quickly at that news. "What do you need from us, Chief?" The rabbit asked curiously, to which the grizzly bear on the other end promptly explained;
"There's been a case of grand larceny at a historical museum here in the Deciduous-District, an old Elktic ruin known as Castle Lochlan. I've just recently been informed by dispatch that the investigators there are in need of more officers to help observe and mark the crime scene. They're short on hands, you see, so I want the two of you to go there only to assist and observe the situation, and not to interrupt my officers in their duties! If I find out that you're doing anything but, you will be put right back on parking duty! Understood?"
"Certainly, Chief," Judy replied cheerily. "We're on our way."
The Chief grunted in acknowledgement, and then the radio went dead. As soon as Judy placed the device back upon the dashboard, she threw her fists into the air in excitement.
"Yes!" She shouted exultantly. "We have a case! A real one!"
Nick couldn't help but chuckle at her excitement. "Not exactly a case, mind you... Seems more like a simple task than anything else, to me. Not that I'm complaining, though."
Judy's exuberance stilled briefly, but was unhampered overall. Meanwhile, Nick reached down under his passenger seat for the map that they had stowed there earlier.
"Now, seeing as Chief Prickly Bear didn't give us any directions..." He muttered as he unfolded the map. "Let's see if we can find out where this place even is, shall we?"
11:59 A.M
Thankfully, it didn't take them very long to find the location that they were looking for.
After a few confusing wrong turns, courtesy of Nick confusing Oak Alley with Acorn Alley, the two tiny officers eventually managed to locate and pull into the parking lot of the museum, which was located at the base of a rocky hillside dotted with boulders and bristling pine trees. Stepping out of the car, the fox took it upon himself to drop a comment;
"Look at this place, will ya?" He stated simply.
The parking lot at the base of the hill wasn't very big, but it was plenty large enough to accommodate for at least half a dozen police cruisers of varying sizes, each one no doubt there to assist in the investigation and study of the crime scene. A few police officers milled around the parking lot, some talking on phones, others talking quietly to one another. There was an almost somber sense of atmosphere surrounding them, as if something much more sinister than a simple burglary had taken place on these grounds.
At the thought of the castle itself, Nick turned his attention towards the towering sight before him.
Centered upon the very top of a grassy, sizable hill dotted with cliff-like rocks, a large and looming fortress of vine and stone dominated the surrounding land below it. Castle Lochlan stood as a ruinous monument to a bygone age of mystery and uncertainty, before the city of Zootopia had erected its gleaming skyscrapers, and when the residence of the Deciduous-District at the time, the Elktic people, owed their very lives to their feudal system of castles and law, which brought order and stability to a land of chaos and fear.
Nick himself recalled learning about the Elktic culture back in his high school years. Apparently, like the rabbits in Bunny-Burrow and the marsupials on Outback-Island, the Elktic people had developed a small, but strong civilization within a secluded area, all the while most other mammal species were still running around naked and eating each other. Though they weren't the only mammalian civilization to develop at the time period, of course, they were among the most advanced, with their stone buildings and complex cultural practices. Their civilization was comprised almost entirely of elk and other members of that particular mammal genus, such as deer, pudu, and even moose.
The castle itself was a reflection of the Elktic culture's sophistication and might in such a hectic and dark time period: Towering walls of stone rose up many dozens of feet into the air. Though having no doubt protected the ancient ruin's long forgotten residence in times of fear and danger, the old walls were now little more than crumbling rows of gray brick entangled in thick vines and ivy. Despite their once formidable might, the walls of the castle were no match to the test of time, and the indomitable will of nature itself.
A sizable museum of wood and stone was built into the side of the castle ruins, a modern piece of architecture jutting out from an ancient one. Nick personally thought that it ruined the majesty and grandeur of the ancient castle itself, as if it were some sort of cancerous growth feeding from the dominance of the ruins themselves. Regardless, he didn't think of it for very long, as he knew that there was work to do: Besides, after doing almost nothing but parking duty and simple neighborhood patrols for the past few days, with the most exciting thing from it being the occasional detainee, he was admittedly rather excited to sink his teeth into something even the slightest bit more intriguing.
Side by side, the two tiny officers ascended the cobblestone path at the edge of the parking lot that led up to the very top of the hill, where the castle itself was situated. The trail was a bit rocky and uneven, but given time, both Nick and Judy managed to reach the center of the scene. Despite the unfamiliar setting and characters, they both knew precisely what to do, as they had trained and dealt with situations much like this one many times before, and so, they set out to begin their next adventure in the forest district.
Sensing that the first thing they needed to do was to check in with the scene manager, whom was no doubt overseeing the many different officers in the area, the rabbit and the fox asked around, eventually finding their superior to be that of a hardy looking old timber wolf, seemingly well into his late fifties, who stood at the entrance to the castle courtyard with a large clipboard and pen in hand. His eyes were covered with a pair of dark shades, and his expression was that of apparent boredom, or perhaps even doubt. Like all of the other officers in the Deciduous-District, his attire consisted of a standard ZPD issued beige button up police shirt, and a pair of trousers colored the shade of shadowy green foliage, the ankles of which were stained with mud. Approaching him alongside her partner, Judy raised up her right paw and called out in an effort to earn his attention;
"Hey there! Officers Hopps and Wilde, reporting for duty!" She exclaimed cheerily.
The timber wolf slowly glanced up from his clipboard with pursed lips, his shades slipping down his snout slightly to reveal a pair of bored looking gray colored eyes.
"Bogo's little prizes, hm?" He muttered in disdain. "What brings you here, precisely? Aren't you supposed to be doing parking duty, and stuff like that?"
Lowering her brow in disapproval, Judy calmly replied;
"Chief Urzo himself personally requested that we make an appearance to be of assistance to the investigation of the crime scene."
"Hope you don't have a problem with that." Nick added, to which Judy lightly stamped upon his foot, causing the fox to grunt in surprise before quickly recomposing himself.
The wolf himself didn't look too impressed, but he simply shrugged before flipping through a few pages clipped to his board, eventually scribbling down something as he stated;
"Alright you two, just follow me, and I'll give ya the run-down on just what exactly happened here last night..."
"Gotcha." Judy claimed without a single shred of hesitation.
Nodding in approval, the timber wolf waggled one of his claws, beckoning the two smaller officers to follow him as he turned around and entered the courtyard of the castle. Keeping up just a few short feet behind him, both Nick and Judy were in awe at the size and might of the castle ruins, with each of them gazing around the length of the grassy courtyard, eyeing over the stony walls of the past and the wooden building of the present; The entrance to the museum itself was tucked away in the corner of the open space.
"Welcome to Castle Lochlan, officers..." Their wolfen guide stated with a hint of formality. "These ruins are one of many different historical sites here in the Deciduous-District."
"So there are more like it?" Judy inquired.
"Affirmative. The Elktics left behind dozens of temples, castles, and villages, but Castle Lochlan has always been considered the greatest one of them all."
"I can see why... This place is pretty magnificent..." Nick mumbled, staring up at the massive stone walls. Meanwhile, the wolf officer, nodded his head as he continued;
"Magnificent as it may be, there are plenty of mammals who care more about what the castle contains: Ancient artifacts left over from the time of the Elktics, including cloth, idols, statues, weapons, artwork, and even armor. Stuff like that. The ruins themselves don't have much in them, and are used more as a sightseeing thing than anything else, as all the artifacts are stored in the actual museum. Last night, the museum was robbed. The perpetrators took just about everything that they could get their dirty paws on."
The wolf officer led the vulpine and the lapin towards the museum entrance, opening the door for them before stepping inside the wood and concrete building himself.
"Any idea what the time of the heist was?" The rabbit questioned, to which the wolf pursed his lips.
"Not quite sure of the exact events, just yet." He said. "The security cameras were killed between one and two in the morning, so we suspect a time frame within those hours."
Leading Nick and Judy down the length of a dusty hall, the trio of mammals soon found themselves inside of a decently sized wood room with large, glassy windows on the walls, overlooking the cliffside of the castle and nearly everything below it. The room may have once been beautiful, but it was now nearly torn to pieces from the late night intrusion.
Eyeing over the inside of the dilapidated room, Judy noticed several wooden tables that were topped with glass boxes had been smashed open, shattering bits and pieces of the transparent material all across the floor. Inside the glassy wreckage, soft looking velvet stands that must've once held up and displayed ancient artifacts were now bare and exposed, their centerpieces having been taken. The entire room was like this, with glass display cases destroyed, wooden crates torn apart, and judging by the clean spots on the walls that were surrounded by coats of dust, the officers reasoned that even the paintings and other decorations that must have once hung from the walls had also been stolen.
"The analysts concluded that the robbers were very experienced, but in a bit of a rush, judging by the mess that they left behind." The wolf officer explained.
"Just how much was lost?" Judy found herself asking out loud. "What are the costs of the damages?"
"A few officers are talking with the manager of the museum as we speak. It's estimated to be anywhere from ten, to sixty thousand. Things like what was stolen are complex."
"That's it?" The fox blurted out, clearly bewildered. "Why would the robbers risk breaking into this place just for a few thousand dollars?"
"Our investigators are trying to figure that out right now. It does seem strange, but I'm sure we'll figure it out soon enough." The wolf stated.
"Okay, okay... Time will tell, eh? Always does." Nick's ears suddenly perked up. "Say though, that reminds me... When was the scene of the crime first reported, exactly?"
"It wasn't until ten in the morning, when the museum was first scheduled to open, that the manager arrived to unlock the gates. It was her that first discovered the crime."
"Wait just a minute, now." The fox interrupted, making a time out symbol with his forearms. "How did nobody even know this happened until the manager arrived hours later?"
"Yeah, wouldn't this place have security, or something? Like a night watchguard?" Judy added.
The wolf officer sighed longingly, as if the answer to that particular question made him weary and somber. Without answering, he made way towards the door, soon exiting the museum with Nick and Judy following shortly behind, both still expecting some sort of answer from him. They followed him as he continued walking away from the castle courtyard, leading the two smaller officers down a rocky path that opened up into an expansive and grassy field at the base of the hillside, where a number of other hills stretched out into the distance, some lined with trails of gravel and stone inlaid into the muddy ground. Eventually, though not without another sad sigh, the lupine responded;
"That's what we need your help for, officers. You see... There was a security guard watching over the museum at the time of the robbery."
"Oh..." Judy murmured, her ears lowering in darkening realization.
"His name was Corran Johnson... Security guard here at the ruins during the graveyard shift. Forty years old with a wife and three kids."
The wolf officer momentarily trailed off before swallowing hard, removing his sunglasses, and continuing with his explanation;
"Death by blunt force trauma to the head. It's a damn shame."
Judy visibly cringed upon detecting the words 'blunt force trauma'. She was always the type of mammal who got a little bit queasy around blood and other bodily injuries, but in the end, it was just another part of the job. She didn't recall Chief Urzo mentioning anything about a murder during his little radio call to them earlier, but to Judy herself, it mattered not: There was work to be done. The rabbit swallowed hard and steeled her resolve, prepared to deal with whatever came her way for the sake of the greater good.
"Okay, tell us about the injury..." She stated calmly, to which the wolf officer nodded before beginning his explanation;
"He was killed by a single blow to the back of the head from a blunt instrument which then magically disappeared along with the killer." He hissed swiftly in seeming frustration.
"Wait, so there's no evidence of an attack?" Nick questioned curiously.
The wolf sighed, pursed his lips, and shook his head slightly. "You'll just have to see it for yourselves, officers." He finalized as they reached the very top of the small grassy hill.
Following the pointed hand of the wolf officer, the lapin and vulpine took in the sight of an expansive grassy field bordered with towering oak and pine trees. In the middle of the small plain, a tiny stream gurgled along peacefully, standing out in contrast to the chaotic mess that was the crime scene at its shallow banks: A multitude of various officers, forensic scientists, and a few civilian mammals watching from a distance were all centered around a small rectangular space of yellow police tape and shiny forensic instruments.
Behind them, Judy detected the sound of the wolf officer as he trudged away, the weight of his steps spawning sickening slurping noises to emanate from the mud beneath him.
Steeling her resolve, the rabbit straightened out her back and nodded her head in a sense of determination before marching forward towards the crime scene, her foxy partner in pursuit a few feet back, though he appeared to be having trouble with the soupy mud due to his increased weight, all the while Judy herself strided along without any problems. As they approached the very center of the crime scene, both mammals noticed that the terrain beneath their feet had changed somewhat, with the muddy banks of the creek suddenly sprouting groves of large craggy stones and other rocks that hurt their toes as they stepped upon them. The clouds above their heads were gray and ever darkening...
Soon enough, they both reached the highest hub of activity in the area, where forensics officers clad in white lab coats were milling about the scene of the crime. The head honcho himself appeared to be a portly looking raccoon police officer, who was currently chatting with a pair of comparatively towering black bears. The coon was the only officer in the area wearing a hat, which was wide brimmed and colored the hue of freshly unearthed dirt, the bowl pinned with various badges and other little metal trinkets.
"Excuse me!" Nick called out easily upon noticing the raccoon wrapping up his conversation with the bear pair. Turning around, the coon's smile grew wide as he replied;
"Ah, if it isn't officers Wilde and Hopps! I recall how you two brought in five different offenders the other day, all in just a few hours! That was quite impressive."
"So you noticed that, huh?" Judy asked sheepishly, visibly a bit flattered.
"Brings a tear to my eye." Nick claimed jokingly, miming his paw over his eyelid as if he were wiping away a teardrop.
"Well, any good work is worth noticing, I say." The striped mammal finalized. "If you're here to help, then I only hope that you two can keep up your streak of progress."
"Hope we don't disappoint." The fox added with a half-lidded grin.
"I'm sure you won't, given your reputation. Anyhow, the victim's body was carted out a few minutes ago, so you just barely missed 'em. Right now, we're cleaning up what's left and documenting everything that we can find, though, there ain't much... I've been on the force here for nearly a decade, and I've never seen anything quite like this before."
"Do tell." The vulpine acknowledged, to which the raccoon pursed his lips and began his explanation;
"No weapon was found at the scene, and there are no signs of a scuffle, or even any footprints in the mud, 'cept his own. The victim was struck a single time in the back of the head, likely killing him near instantaneously, before he fell to the ground. No tracks, no weapon, no DNA, no nothing! It's like the perp that did this just vanished into thin air!"
"No footprints, huh?" Nick repeated curiously. "What if it was a winged mammal?"
"You mean like a bat? Impossible. No bat is strong enough to take down a fully grown deer with brute force. This was likely done by a very strong individual." The coon claimed.
"Medium to large sized mammal, got it." The fox concluded. "Wait a minute. This place is pretty rocky. What if he just hit his head on some stones after tripping, or something?"
Squinting his beady black eyes in seeming distaste, the raccoon officer muttered quickly;
"Negative. The injury to the back of the victim's head is quite clear... He was hit with something lightweight, but powerful. Fast, too. Definitely didn't bonk his head on a rock."
"Gosh, just look at all this mud." Judy mumbled, eyeing the riverbank. "How could anyone have struck and killed this poor deer without even leaving any tracks? It's impossible!"
"It is impossible." The raccoon officer agreed firmly. "Both forensics and scene marking are completely baffled: They've viewed over every scenario, but nothin' seems to add up."
"What do you mean?" The rabbit asked, to which the coon grumbled in seeming annoyance;
"Nobody knows why the night guard even left the castle to come all the way down here, much less how he was actually killed. This whole crime scene reeks."
"Is it alright if we take a look around?" Nick requested calmly. "Maybe we can find something."
"Be my guest. I hope you do find somethin'." The raccoon mumbled before turning his back to the two officers, clearly not wanting any further conversation with either of them.
Nodding in acknowledgement, Judy turned around and grabbed Nick by the wrist, pulling him a few meters away from the scene before releasing her hold on his forearm.
"Okay Nick, we're gonna need to keep quiet about this... I don't think anyone else here knows about Chief Urzo not wanting us to help them investigate like this..."
"My, my, are you suggesting ignoring a direct order from a superior officer?" Nick teased. "Quite unlike you, carrots, if I do say so myself."
"Oh can it, you... We've been sitting on our tails all week, and now we have an opportunity to do something really fun! Something actually important! We can't just-"
"Hey now, no need to give me the full lecture, whiskers. I understand." The fox interrupted with a coyish smile across his muzzle. "Shall we get to work, then?"
"Right!" Judy exclaimed excitedly.
From there, the two tiny officers set about what they arguably did best: Police work.
Deciding first to cover more ground by splitting up, Judy took to asking around the crime scene, questioning various police officers and forensic scientists in an effort to learn all that she could about the situation, though she did do her best to refrain from looking too out of place or prominent, if only to keep someone from reporting them to Chief Urzo, whom would no doubt be considerably upset if he managed to find out just what exactly the two of them were up to. Judy had no intention of being stopped anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Nick himself silently milled about the outskirts of the crime scene, observing all that he could; Sights, sounds, and even smells. He reasoned that a rainstorm was imminent, one that would undoubtedly level out and wash away the grimy mud, and any pieces of undiscovered evidence along with it. The fox knew that his time was limited, so he worked quickly and as best as he could to try and weed out anything of interest, though in the end, his efforts were for nothing, as he concluded his search as empty handed as when he had begun it. Judging by the current state of the clouds above him, he deduced the coming rainstorm to arrive within the next few minutes, at least.
However, as he made his way back towards the nearby castle after putting a considerable amount of distance between it and himself, Nick noticed something peculiar: In the distance, some forty feet away, the grassy plain morphed into the edge of a thick pine forest, but one specific part of the underbrush looked as if it had been cut away with some sort of large blade, as pieces of plant material were strewn across the ground, the stems of which were cut clean and precise.
The fox was just about to approach the clearing when he felt someone tug upon the back of his shirt. Turning around, he looked down upon the smaller form of Judy.
"Everything alright there, fluff?" He asked curiously, having taken note of her anxious expression, complete with drooped ears and pursed lips.
Without answering, the rabbit simply pointed towards the nearby parking lot, where Nick locked eyes with the towering form of Chief Urzo, arms crossed and face chiseled in a biting look of contempt. Neither of the two mammals spoke as they made their way towards the grizzly bear, promptly halting upon reaching his foot. The bear snarled aloud;
"You two are too curious for your own good. From now on, you'll be doing nothing but parking duty and janitor's work until your release from my custody."
"Sir, we-" Judy tried to pipe out, but was promptly cut off by the grizzly bear, who growled, causing the rabbit to quietly trail off in submission.
"I'll make sure that Chief Bogo hears about this come tomorrow. Finish up the rest of your patrol, and then report back to my office in the station... We'll talk there."
At that, the bear snorted in disapproval as he turned around and lumbered off, leaving the two officers to themselves.
Nick sighed before stealing a glance at the rabbit standing beside him. She didn't look very pleased - Her expression was a mix of frustration and disappointment, and her body language wasn't much better, with one of her feet thumping rapidly against the ground beneath her. He figured there was never a better time to cheer her up.
"Well, Carrots," The fox began flatly. "At least we got to do some real police work for a few hours, eh? Better than nothing."
Judy sighed, her tedious exhale accompanied by the slight rolling of her violacious eyes.
"Back to parking duty and patrolling, then." She muttered, to which her husband nodded a single time in seeming agreement.
"It won't be all that bad." Nick claimed in an attempt to reassure the rabbit. "I mean, we've got each other, right?"
"Right."
"Don't you forget that, now."
"Kind of hard to forget about it, what with your constant quipping." Judy teased, her spirits slightly lifted.
"Hey, my quipping personality and I are a package deal." The fox retorted with a coy grin. "Besides, you know you love it."
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't, I suppose."
"That's more like it!"
"Okay, enough of that." The bunny chided as she lightly elbowed her partner in the side of his rib-cage. "Let's just get back to work, shall we?"
Nick nodded sympathetically, his expression adorned with the likes of a pair of half-lidded emerald colored eyes and a wily sort of smirk.
"Indeed we shall." He stated calmly.
With one arm squeezing his smaller partner's shoulder reassuringly, the fox then led the rabbit back to the cruiser, where the two of them promptly set out for the roads of the Deciduous-District, intent on completing the remainder of their assigned patrol. Nick himself personally manned the wheel of the vehicle, allowing for his lapin counterpart to take a break from the driving, most of which had been admittedly done by her. She gladly settled down in the passenger's seat, and stared out of the tinted window calmly.
Neither of the two mammals said a single word for quite some time, though neither thought of it as unsettling nor awkward in the slightest bit.
Yet still, as the fox steadily controlled the wheel of the comparatively sizable police cruiser, guiding it down the windy and foliage-cloaked roads of the forest district, with his two emerald eyes focused firmly on the sights ahead of him, he failed to notice the pained expression and solemn aura of his wife, who continued to gaze out of the window without a single sound to be heard, staring blankly at nothing in particular with strained and watery purple eyes, her mind wrapped in pure and boding uncertainty.
Hey everyone!
I'd just like to quickly take the time to issue a gravitating thanks to the many different followers and readers of this story of ours! We've just recently reached another brand new milestone, and I couldn't be prouder of you lot. It's truly because of you that this story of ours can grow, expand, and evolve over time, with your dedication and interest serving as the very driving factors behind my overall motivation and resolve! I truly cannot thank you all enough, and I certainly hope to see you all with me for the coming updates, and more!
That being said, all favorites, follows, and reviews are greatly appreciated. I cannot emphasize enough just how thankful I am to those who take the time to invest their interest and dedication into this story of ours. If you haven't already, do feel free to favorite and/or follow, as they are truly one of the many things that helps me keep this work afloat. Thank you all so very much for your time and consideration.
That's pretty much all that I have to say to you lot, as of now. As always, I certainly hope that you enjoyed the latest chapter, and do stay tuned for the next!
'Till next time...
Cheers!